The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections in Nigeria, Peter Obi, has told his counterparts, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to leave him out of their present fight as he is focused on retrieving his mandate at the Supreme Court.
Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, was responding to an appeal by Atiku to join him in the legal battle challenging Tinubu’s credentials which he (Atiku) is alleging were forged and is now a matter to be presented at the apex court in a bid to nullify Tinubu’s candidacy in the 2023 presidential election.
At a world press conference held in Abuja on Thursday where he spoke on the controversies surrounding Tinubu’s academic records,
Atiku had pleaded with Obi and the candidate of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso, to join him in the quest to unseat Tinubu as the President of Nigeria.
“I particularly call on Governor Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP and, the leaders of every political party in Nigeria, and, indeed, every single person who loves this country, as I do, and who wishes nothing but the best for the country, as I do, to join me in this campaign to enshrine probity, accountability and the basic principles of justice, morality and uprightness in our country and in our government. This is a task for each and every one of us,” the former Vice President had appealed.
However, in his response, Obi said he would not want to be dragged into the fight as his main focus was on his own mandate which he was also battling to retrieve as he believed he won the 2023 presidential election.
In the response contained in a statement signed by the LP National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, Obi said he was currently in the “Supreme Court seeking to reclaim his stolen mandate and he is focused on that.”
“He has been in the vanguard of ensuring a just nation where justice must be the watchword, and he will not stop until Nigeria achieves the leadership it truly deserves,” the statement reads.
“Obi has pontificated severally on the need for leaders to be good role models and to live a life worthy of emulation.
“This, he has done by publicly putting his credentials in the open for verification. Nigeria will get better when men of integrity and honour drive the affairs of the nation.
“We therefore welcome every other interest willing to join us in our pursuit of a nation where justice shall reign,” the statement said.